What A Chinese Spy Ship Deployed Near Visakhapatnam Could Be Up To

The Chinese have deployed one of their spy ships, Xiang Yang Hong 01, very close (260 nautical miles) to the Visakhapatnam coast.

The spy ship, according to the maritime analytics provider Marine Traffic, left the port of Qingdao (China) on 23 February and entered the Bay of Bengal on 10 March.

This comes just three days before India issued two Notices To Air Missions (NOTAM) on 7 March, one for a missile test between 11-16 March and the other for 13 March, both covering a vast expanse over the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Both NOTAMs covered a length of more than 3,500 kilometres, suggesting multiple likely tests of a long-range ballistic missile.

Surely enough, yesterday (11 March), just a day after the Xiang Yang Hong 01 entered the Bay of Bengal, India announced the first-ever successful test of a Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) equipped Agni-5 nuclear-capable missile.

No points for guessing that Xiang Yang Hong 01 tracked the entire missile test very closely, gathering various data points, including very likely Agni-5's heat and radar signatures.

The NOTAM for the second missile test is expected to be of a K-4 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM).

Notably, India bases all its nuclear missile submarines — Arihant and Arighat — in Vishakhapatnam.

Another spy ship, Xiang Yang Hong 03, is already in the IOR conducting hydrographic surveys. It is the same vessel that docked at Male on 5 March after Sri Lanka barred Chinese spy vessels from entering its port for one year.

This is not the first time Chinese spy ships have been surveilling the IOR or Bay of Bengal. In November 2022, India was forced to cancel a NOTAM after Yuan Wang 06 entered the IOR to monitor the test launch.

A month after the cancellation of the test, another vessel, this time Yuan Wang 05, came to the region to monitor the first night-time launch of an Agni-5 missile which was validating newer technologies and equipment.

The Chinese have been regularly sending their spy vessels to either monitor Indian test launches or map the surface below the ocean to find areas where they can hide their submarines away from the reach of traditional sonars, under the guise of hydrographic surveys.

India has been asking its neighbouring countries, particularly Sri Lanka and Maldives, to keep Indian sensitivities in mind and not allow Chinese spy vessels to dock at their ports for rest and replenishment.

In the past, Sri Lanka has allowed three spy vessels — Yuan Wang 05, Hai Yang 24 Hao, and Shi Yan 6 — to dock at Colombo in August 2022, August 2023, and October 2023, respectively.

However, after negotiations, Sri Lanka has now barred these vessels from docking at its port for one year.